Thinking Time privacy policy
Last updated 27 October 2026
In short
Thinking Time doesn’t collect, keep or share any of your personal data. Everything you write stays on your iPhone, unless you export it or turn on iCloud backup.
What the app stores, and where
Your entries, check-ins, beliefs, goals, plans and settings are stored on your iPhone, protected by iOS data protection. They’re included in your iPhone’s own backups, which you control. Today’s question is shared with the Thinking Time widget on the same iPhone so the widget can show it.
On-device AI
When your iPhone supports it, sorting a note into facts and thoughts uses Apple’s on-device language model. Your words are processed on your iPhone and aren’t sent to us or to anyone else.
No accounts, analytics or advertising
There’s no account to create, and the app contains no analytics, advertising, tracking or third-party code. We have no server, so your data never comes to us.
iCloud backup
If you turn it on in Settings › Your data, your writing is also kept in your private iCloud. It’s encrypted on your iPhone before it’s stored, and we can’t read it. If you’ve turned on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, only your devices can. It appears in Thinking Time on any device signed in to your Apple Account. Turning it off removes it from iCloud and turns it off on your other devices.
Face ID and reminders
If you turn on the lock, Face ID is handled entirely by iOS; the app never receives your face data. If you turn on the daily reminder, it’s scheduled on your iPhone.
Deleting your data
You can delete anything you’ve saved, one item at a time or all at once in Settings › Your data. You can also export a copy first. Deleting the app removes everything it stored on your iPhone. If iCloud backup is on, Delete everything removes your writing from iCloud too. Deleting the app leaves the copy in iCloud: to remove it, reinstall Thinking Time, then turn backup on and off.
Changes
If this policy ever changes, the new version will be in the app and on the Thinking Time website, with a new date.